Rhetoric and oratory
Oratory is not just the ability to speak a lot and beautifully. A good speaker must master the basics of psychology and acting, philosophy and analytics. Its main goal is not just to convey certain information to the interlocutor, but also to arouse interest among the audience and encourage listeners to take certain actions.
10 Basic Rules of Rhetoric
In rhetoric, there are 10 components that influence the quality of speech and form the basis of oratory.
Objectivity
You should not present your own beliefs as an immutable truth. The speaker's speech must be unbiased and the information truthful;
Conciseness
A long monologue containing a lot of secondary information causes irritation and a negative reaction from others. The text of the speech should be quite short and concise, while remaining meaningful and informative;
Clarity
Clarity is the ability to explain complex things in simple words, to present information in a form understandable to the interlocutor;
Imagery
Using real life situations as examples, comparison and contrast, causes the listener to associate with familiar, familiar things. The feelings and emotions that arise in this case simplify the perception of information and make speech more memorable;
Feasibility
The main idea of what was said should be easily grasped and quickly remembered;
Voltage
The interlocutor needs to be captivated, interested, and, while maintaining intrigue and increasing the degree of tension, gradually bring him to the climax of the story;
Surprise
A non-standard approach and a fresh look at the situation increase the audience’s interest in the speaker and his speech;
Saturation
The listener should not be burdened with an abundance of difficult-to-understand terms and formulations; they should be interspersed with simple and easy-to-understand information;
Comic effect
Humor smooths out rough edges, endears the audience, and performances, diluted with a good joke or appropriate wit, are better remembered;
Style
You should not make pretentious and sublime speeches, but at the same time, what is said should not seem vulgar or vulgar. The choice of narrative style depends on its content and the target audience for which the speech is intended.
Read further: Secrets of oratory and public speaking
Workshops to increase self-confidence
Workshop 1: get the listener interested
Come up with a topic for your speech. For example, “Types of securities”. Now imagine that several characters from films, fairy tales and fiction are sitting in front of you - from Bluebeard to Cinderella and Darth Vader. You need to come up with some “enticing ideas”, present your topic in such a way that this particular character wants to listen to you.
Workshop 2: Convincing the Buyer
Remember the joke about selling an elephant? Take a few items that come to your hand first. Now try to convince imaginary buyers at the market to buy these items. Regardless of what they are - a shabby broom, a plate, a scribbled pen refill, an old computer disk... Your task is to find such arguments so that the buyer understands: he needs this item!
Workshop 3: make a phrase expressive
Try greeting the audience by putting different “subtext” into the words “good afternoon.” For example, first try to make your greeting sound sincerely happy. Then try to express your disgust at the upcoming lecture with your “good afternoon” (in real life this is unacceptable, but for now we are just having a practical lesson!) Then - embarrassment, doubt, coquetry.
“Speaking a lot and saying a lot are not the same thing” (Sophocles)
Workshop 4: answer questions
For this game you will need the help of several friends. Write a short report on any topic. Ask your friends to read something on the topic, but don't let them watch the text of the report itself. And also inform that each of them will have their own role: “overly inquisitive”, “boorish”, “unintelligible”. Let them try to prepare questions for you in accordance with these roles. When everyone is ready, give your message to them and wait for questions.
Let your friends, without particularly sparing you, play out their roles: the “unintelligible” one will ask obvious things again, the “boorish” one will try to assert themselves at your expense, the “overly inquisitive” one will bombard you with questions that may not be particularly relevant to the topic...
Your task is to fight off all these questions in accordance with the rules described above: do not respond to aggression with aggression, be competent and not afraid to demonstrate this, do not run wild with thoughts.
After this, discuss the performance with your comrades.
Were you convincing in your presentation of the topic?
Did they get answers to their questions or did you lack competence or confidence?
Are they satisfied with the answers?
Were you able to attract their attention?
Was it interesting for the listeners?
Were all the rules followed: introduction, main idea, conclusion, etc.?
Pros and cons
When you're learning how to write speeches, the following interesting tutorial will help you practice making persuasive arguments. Try to compose a speech calling for something in two versions. In the first option, you will call on a person (society) to do something, and in the second, you will convince the same person not to do it under any circumstances! For example, in one text you will strongly advocate for weightlifting, and in another you will categorically oppose it.
What is neo-rhetoric?
Neorhetoric, or new rhetoric, is a modern philosophical and philological theory that uses the achievements of various branches of knowledge (linguistics, psychology and even anthropology) made in the 20th century. One of the scientists on the basis of whose work neo-rhetoric emerged is the Russian philosopher and theologian M. M. Bakhtin, who developed the theory of dialogue. And the most authoritative theorist of neo-rhetoric is R. Barth. The areas of interest of neo-rhetoric are speech practices that existed in different cultures and the interpretation of literary works from the point of view of structural and rhetorical structure.
Exercises
Oratory skills help not only to control the situation, but also to manage it. The positive outcome of any case depends on the speaker’s communication skills and correctly structured dialogue with listeners.
Eloquence is not an innate ability, but an acquired one. This skill needs to be developed and trained. You can learn to freely express your thoughts using words, speak easily and naturally, and arouse interest and trust in your audience by performing fairly simple but effective exercises.
8 exercises for speech training
Reading out loud
In order to develop the strength and flexibility of your voice, you need to read any text out loud every day. In this case, you need to change the tonality of each sentence, moving from loud to quiet pronunciation and vice versa. You can pronounce drawn-out vowels using a similar technique, but your voice should sound lower than usual;
Retelling what you read
You can learn to formulate thoughts by regularly retelling the texts you read in your own words. In this case, it is necessary to pay special attention to details, try to remember and reproduce as much information as possible;
Keyword Search
Searching for keywords helps develop verbal thinking. You need to determine which phrases and sentences are key in the text and try to find new wording for them. At the same time, the meaning and information content of the words must be preserved. Another version of the exercise suggests, after reading only the first part of the sentence, completing it in your own words;
Paraphrasing
This exercise teaches you to highlight the main idea in the text. After reading a short article or message, you need to convey the information contained in it in your own words, while reducing the text size to one sentence;
Simplicity of speech
To eliminate the frequent use of the same words (the words “parasites”), the retold text is recorded on a voice recorder. Having discovered sentences containing such words while listening, they must be spoken several times, but in the correct form;
Tongue Twisters
With the help of tongue twisters, you can learn to speak faster while maintaining clear pronunciation;
Reading by warehouses
Reading by vocabulary is used to develop free, clear pronunciation. It is necessary to read any text slowly, step by step, paying attention to the correctness and clarity of the pronounced sounds. This exercise allows you to get rid of another common drawback - hasty pronunciation, in which individual sounds or endings of words are lost (swallowed), and speech turns out to be crumpled and slurred;
Reading poetry
When reading rhymed works, the correct placement of stress in words is easier to remember.
Exercises should be performed as often as possible, but it is important to take a break and rest if you feel tired. In addition, clarity of speech and clarity of pronunciation depend on proper breathing, which can be developed with the help of breathing exercises.
Read more: How to learn to speak beautifully and competently
Useful tips
Constant practice is important for developing eloquence. It is necessary to expand your social circle and communicate with new and interesting people. It is useful to observe the speech of presenters and attend special trainings. You need to fill your vocabulary with good jokes. To do this, you can memorize jokes and watch humorous programs.
Some tips will help you quickly master the science of eloquence:
- Voice training exercises should be performed indoors, without carpet. This will allow you to hear your voice better.
- Exercises for developing a singing voice will also be useful.
- It is recommended to do special gymnastics to create correct posture.
- While the vocal cords are working, it is important to feel the vibration in your back, chest and neck. This phenomenon allows you to make your voice pleasant and voluminous.
- The lips and jaws should be relaxed. This will allow you to achieve the required volume.
- You need to speak loudly, as quiet speech may not be heard.
- When speaking, you should relax your shoulders, which contributes to a softer sounding voice.
Fear of public speaking
Anxiety and self-doubt prevent a speaker from expressing his thoughts clearly. He often gets confused, his speech becomes confused and the viewer has to strain to catch the essence of what is being said. Excitement and fear of an audience can lead to failure of any performance. How not to be afraid of public speaking?
The first step to solving the problem is to analyze and identify those factors due to which a person experiences discomfort before going on stage and is afraid of the audience. Most often, the reasons for such a reaction are psychological in nature. Uncontrollable fear and anxiety can occur due to:
- childhood memories (unsuccessful performance at an early age);
- strict upbringing (prohibitions and restrictions on the part of parents, the belief that one should not attract the attention of other people);
- complexes (dissatisfaction with oneself, expectation of laughter from the audience);
- painful pride (fear of criticism, desire to be perfect in everything).
Fear of public speaking is a very common phenomenon, familiar to almost everyone who has worked with a large audience. A little anxiety makes a speech more emotional and interesting, but it is very important to ensure that it does not develop into panic.
Read next: 15 tips to overcome your fear of public speaking
How to avoid anxiety before public speaking
There are many techniques known to help you cope with emotions and overcome stage fright. Exercising and playing sports before a performance helps you relax and relieves nervous tension. A cup of warm milk or herbal decoction with honey soothes and makes the voice softer and clearer.
